


Moment by Moment

by LastCorsair



Category: RWBY
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-05
Updated: 2020-09-05
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:27:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26296399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LastCorsair/pseuds/LastCorsair
Summary: We are defined by the moments in our lives, each one a step along the journey from the past to the present. But when those moments are taken from us, what remains? Are we still who we are now, or are we who we were then?
Relationships: Blake Belladonna/Weiss Schnee
Kudos: 4





	1. Chapter 1

Consciousness crept in like a blind, stumbling drunk. The first sensation to return was _pain._ She hurt everywhere, especially her head. Crashing along behind that came the concept of _head_ as a part of the body, an important one. Next came scent, a cocktail of disinfectant, plastic, and really clean linens that spelled _hospital._ Was she in the hospital? Had she been injured? Sound crept in next on velvet paws, the soft _beep-beep-beep_ she associated with monitoring equipment. _Good, nice, calm, steady rhythm, no problems._ Soft voices around her, she couldn't make out the words, but tone told her much. There was concern in their voices, but not panic. She drifted, secure in knowledge that she was somewhere safe, whatever had happened to her, she was probably safe.

Eventually strength returned, and with it the desire to know where she was. It was an effort beyond words to open an eye a crack, only to be rewarded with darkness. Was she blind? Had whatever put her here blinded her here? Panic flared, only to be dismissed a moment later. No, she could see shades in the darkness; she must be in a dark room, that's all. She forced her eyes open the rest of the way, confirming what she'd supposed. The ceiling above her was white, turned gray by the dim lighting. On the edge of her vision to her left was a light of some sort; the _beep-beep-beep_ from the monitors came from the same direction.

A flicker of movement caught her eye, and she winced as she turned her head to see what it was. Through a large window she could see an airship passing by, and past it the shining lights of a major city. She frowned; exactly where was she? She didn't think she should have been in a city; had she been so badly injured that they'd flown her hundreds of miles to a hospital? But why take the risk? She wasn't that important. "Where..?" she whispered, her voice rough and raw.

"Blake? Are you awake?" a voice, unfamiliar but at the same time strangely familiar and comforting came from her right. _Blake,_ yes that was her, that was her _name_. But... she turned her head to see a white-haired woman standing in the doorway to the hospital room. "Who...?" escaped her lips before she could think.

"It's me, Weiss." The woman stepped closer, and Blake could see recent injuries on her face and arms, and an old scar over her left eye. For some reason Blake couldn't place, the sight of the scar angered her.

"I-I don't know you." Blake shook her head, fear creeping back in.

"But..." Anguish showed for a moment on the white-haired woman's face before she visibly took control of herself. "Blake, what's the last thing you remember?"

"I was with Adam," slipped out of Blake's mouth before she could stop herself.

"On a mission, right. Train job, Schnee Dust shipment, big spider robot?" Blake nodded warily, her hands subconsciously clenching into fists, gripping the covers. How did this human woman know about her mission for the White Fang. "Blake... that was ten years ago, right before you left the White Fang."

"N-no, that's not possible."

"It is." The woman reached out and grabbed Blake's wrist before she object or pull away, turning it so Blake could see the date on the hospital wristband. Blake gasped. The date on the band was over ten years after the last date she remembered. Blake could feel tears welling in the other woman's eyes as she continued. "After you left the White Fang, you enrolled at Beacon Academy to become a Huntress, and that's where you met me. And," Weiss finished, looking Blake in the eyes, a tremor in her voice, "eventually, where we were married. I'm your wife, Blake."

"N-no, that can't be, I'm not into women." Recognition kicked in, and suddenly Blake knew how she recognized Weiss. "And you're Weiss _Schnee_ , there's no way I'd ever marry you."

The other woman's face fell, and Blake almost felt sorry for what she'd said for a moment. Almost. "Blake, I know it's hard to accept, but it's true. We didn't get along at first, but at Beacon, we became teammates, then friends, and years later, more. I've got tons of pictures of us over the years, wedding photos even."

"Those can be faked."

Weiss chewed her lip in thought for a moment, then nodded. "If I can produce someone you know, from back then, that can vouch for me confirm what I'm saying, will you believe me?" Blake nodded, a short, sharp jerk. "Okay, I'll give them a call. In the meantime, will you promise me you'll cooperate with the doctors? The medical staff here is quite excellent, they've patched both of us up over the years multiple times, and they really are trying to help you." Blake agreed, and Weiss stepped to the other side of the room as a doctor and a nurse came in and started examining Blake, asking her questions, checking vitals and taking a blood sample.

Blake listened with half an ear to Weiss's scroll call even while she was answering the doctor's questions. "It's me. She's awake, but she says she doesn't remember anything after the train mission." Pause. "Yes, that train mission." Another pause. "Yes, I offered to show her pictures, but she says those can be faked. I was hoping you could come talk to her? Just you at first. Yes, the others can come, but... if she doesn't remember me, then I don't want to overwhelm her. Okay, good." Weiss put away her scroll and turned back to Blake and the doctors. "Well, how is she?"

"Physically, she seems to be okay. And as far as I can tell without doing an ultrasound, the babies are fine as well. Her mental state... " the doctor's voice took on a serious tone. "Memory loss is not uncommon with a head injury, but this degree of loss is concerning. I'd like a neurologist to see her in the morning; we may have to do a brain scan." Weiss nodded, and the doctor and nurse left.

"Did-did he say _babies_?" Blake's hands were resting on her stomach, a frown on her face.'

Weiss blinked, shock on her face. "Yes, you're five months pregnant, with twins. How did you miss that?"

"I don't know, something about some woman I've never met but have every reason to hate claiming to be my wife, kind of caught my attention." Blake's face brightened. "But that means we can't be married. Two women can't have a baby."

"A little bit of laboratory magic. Genetically, they're part you, and part me, a genetic splice."

"Are they...?"

"Faunus? No sign yet, and the doctors weren't sure; they hadn't tried this before with a human and a Faunus. But some Faunus traits are hard to spot before birth anyway. Like these," and Weiss's hand stole up to stroke Blake's cat ears.

Blake started to purr at the sensation, then reached up to swat Weiss's hand away in annoyance. "Stop that."

"Sorry, I shouldn't have. You usually like it when I do that, but I guess right now..." Weiss's voice trailed off, and the two of them descended into an uncomfortable silence. Something would occur to Blake to say, only to die unspoken on her lips, or Weiss would look up from her chair, her own mouth open as if to speak, then close her mouth and look down again.

"Hey, Blake," came softly from the door. Ilia stood there, wearing something Blake never thought she'd see, a business suit. She glanced over at Weiss and Blake followed her gaze, seeing that Weiss had nodded off. "Let's let her sleep, she's had a rough day, though not as rough as you, I hear. So," Ilia sat on the edge of Blake's bed, "What has she told you?"

"It's ten years since the train mission that's the last thing I remember, I left the White Fang, became a Huntress, and married _Weiss freaking Schnee._ Oh, and I'm five months pregnant with twins that are some sort of horrible genetic cross between the two of us." Blake glanced at Weiss to make sure she was still asleep, the sat up, groaning at the pain. "Ilia, you have to get me out of here!"

Ilia shook her head. "I won't do that, Blake, I can't. Too many people I care about would be hurt if I did that. Including you, if you ever remember the last ten years." She took a deep breath, then continued. "Everything you said she told you is true, though she leaves out a lot of details, obviously."

_This is some sort of nightmare. Maybe I should play along for now._ "Okay, let's say I believe you. What about the White Fang, Adam?"

"The White Fang is gone, except for a dwindling number of increasingly politically irrelevant holdouts. True equality still isn't here, not yet, but it's coming, and the movement behind it has teeth and claws, and it's being built on real respect, not fear. A couple of prominent Faunus in the right place at the right time have had something to do about that, if I may say so myself."

"You?" Blake laughed. "What, did you save some bleeding heart's life on live television or something?"

"Not a bleeding heart, a rather cold one actually, but yes, she was in the right place at the right time." Weiss stood and stretched, yawning. "And then he asked her to join his marriage, and she accepted. Two Schnees being married to Faunus all of a sudden made the issue of equal rights a lot more pressing in certain circles. Plus having my family's money to throw at equal rights groups didn't hurt. Sorry, didn't mean to eavesdrop."

"And Adam?" Weiss and Ilia both froze, looking at each other. "I said, what about Adam? What aren't you telling me?"

Weiss sighed. "Adam Taurus... is dead. When the White Fang was broken, he was sent to prison. On his third escape, he was killed while they were trying to recapture him."

"Tell her who killed him, Weiss." Ilia's was glaring at Weiss. "Tell him who rammed their blade through Adam Taurus's heart and broke it off. Or I will."

"I did." Weiss's voice was flat, emotionless, as if she were reading tax returns. "I killed Adam Taurus. I had finally had enough of him, of him hurting the people I cared about, and something inside me just... snapped. I wasn't there, for a few moments, and when I was myself again, he was dead, Myrtenaster broken off in his chest."


	2. Chapter 2

"Ready to go?"

Blake looked up from the scroll she was looking through and nodded at Ilia. "So much I'm missing, it's hard to get lost in it all. What happened at Beacon, in Mistral, Atlas, Vacuo..."

"And that's just what's in the public record," Ilia replied with a sigh. "There are things that aren't public knowledge because if we told everyone, people would panic."

"Such as?"

"Such as a whole lot of other things I really don't want to spring on you at once. Now let me help you into the wheelchair," Weiss said as she pushed a wheelchair into the room.

"I can walk, "Blake growled, her ears flickering in annoyance.

"Doctor's orders. They really don't want you walking too much for now, until they get those tests this morning analyzed." Weiss giggled. "I had to apply a little 'Schnee grease' to get them to let us use the atrium, instead of trying to pack everyone in your room."

"Schnees still get what they want I guess. Nothing ever changes."

Ilia punched Blake in the arm. "Hey, remember I'm technically a Schnee now too, and so are you, Miss Blake Schnee."

Blake growled again, rubbing her arm even as Weiss laughed, helping her into the wheelchair. "How did that one ever get decided? Did I even get a choice?"

"Your idea, actually." Weiss waved away the nurse who'd followed them her in and started pushing Blake down the hallway into the elevator. She pressed the down button before continuing. "When my father found out about us dating, he kind of exploded. Showed up at the Funhouse, ranting, and raving, swearing that 'No Faunus will ever carry the Schnee name,' and you said that Blake Schnee sounded wonderful, rolled right off the tongue. I disagreed, saying that Wiess Belladonna sounded far better. Father stomped off in a huff, and that was that."

"At least we didn't go with Schnee-Belladonna or Belladonna-Schnee. Those sound like horrible diseases for which there is no cure and you eventually die, slowly and painfully."

Ilia laughed. "Now you see why I kept it simple. Much less paperwork and odd looks."

"Your father, he-he's not going to be here, is he?" Blake looked up at Weiss, who laid a hand on Blake's shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze, even as Blake laid a hand on top of Weiss's. She found the gesture comforting, and thought to object for a moment, but decided against it. Weiss was just trying to be supportive, and if she drew some comfort herself as well, there really wasn't too much harm in it, Blake supposed.

"No. He had a severe stroke several years ago, and now lives a life of seclusion. He's well cared for, don't get me wrong, but he's in no condition to bother anyone anymore, or run the family company. Which worked out nicely, given, well, you'll see."

Blake drew a deep breath to steady herself as Weiss pushed her through the doors to the hospital's atrium. 'Atrium' didn't really do the room justice, it was more like someone had brought a tranquil forest glade indoors. Great trees arched overhead, almost brushing the glass ceiling. Winding pathways curved around the trees and bushes, creating small conversational nooks with concrete tables and benches.

And then there was the statue. Blake gripped the wheels of her wheelchair, jerking the handles out of Weiss's hands and propelling herself forward to the statue's base. Her father's likeness stood there, arms spread wide in welcome. She bent down to run her fingers along the plaque at the base of the statue. _There is strength in forgiveness_ , the words read, something she'd never heard him say but that still echoed in her soul. Tears welled in her eyes as she read the words over and over again, eventually spilling over into quiet sobbing. "I-I can't believe he's gone," Blake sniffed, wiping her eyes as Weiss walked up behind her. "Look at me, bad-ass Huntress, slayer of demigods and such, and I'm sobbing like a little girl."

"I only knew your father for a few years, but in that time, he was more of a father to me than my own has ever been. He and your mother took me into their home, their lives, their hearts, without even a second thought. He even kept coffee in their house for my visits, even though he hated it. I only wish he'd lived to see his grandchildren."

"Mom-mom's st-still alive, right?"

Weiss bent down where Blake could see her, nodding gently. "And waiting for us, when you're ready."

"It-it's just, I keep thinking I've processed it all, that I'm coping and then, then _this_ , you know?" she threw out an arm towards the statue.

"I know."

"No, you don't!" Blake yelled, beating on the arms of her wheelchair. "I've lost a third of my life, and in that time I've apparently battled gods, lost a father, fallen in love, gotten married, and now I'm about to be a mother, twice!. There's no way you can understand this!"

"I can't, and I won't pretend to. But I will be here for you, and help you as much as I can." Weiss took Blake's hands in hers, giving them a gentle squeeze. "Remember, the doctors said it's highly likely you'll get back at least some memories, if not everything. And no matter how much you remember, I'll still be here, and we'll rebuild your life moment by moment if we have to. I promise."

Blake gave one last sniff. "O-okay," she whispered, smiling up at Weiss. Somehow she knew she could take Weiss at her word.

The doors behind them slid open, and a hauntingly familiar blonde-haired man ran through, breathing hard, stopping with his hands resting on his knees. "Sorry, _huff_ , I'm, _huff,_ late, the airship got attacked by Grim, Lancers, and, uh, oh, hi Blake, Weiss, Ilia."

"Do I, do I know you?" Blake asked.

The man stood up, and now Blake could see he had a yellow-furred tail. "Oh, nobody told you about me yet? That's cool, I guess other things came first, right?" He glanced at the statue of Blake's father, then stepped towards Blake, holding out his hand. "Sun Wukong, and I'm-"

Blake hit him. There was barely any thought to it, just a reflexive right cross that hit him straight in the nose, making him take a step back rubbing his face as Blake sat there, arm still outstretched, staring at what she'd done. "I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me."

"Nah, that's about normal." Sun poked his nose for a moment, apparently deciding there wasn't any damage done, then continued. "As I was saying, Sun Wukong, and I'm your ex-husband."

" _Ex-husband_?" Blake shrieked. "Which one of you was going to tell me _this_?"

"Hey, like I said, current events over the past, right?" Sun shook his head. "You and me, we've been over for years. We were better at being friends than we were at being married. I even forgave Weiss."

Blake looked up at Weiss. "Forgave you? Forgave you for what?"

* * *

_Blake pulled back from Weiss, the vanilla taste of Weiss's lips still on hers, Weiss's scent still filling her nostrils. They'd only been dating for a few weeks, making everything still exciting and new. Like Blake finding out about the bronze coin Weiss carried everywhere, or Weiss learning to make Blake a cup of tea just the way she liked it. "So what now?" Blake whispered, her heart racing just a bit._

_''I don't know," Weiss replied, and Blake could that that Weiss's pulse was matching hers. "We could-"_

" _So that's how it is," came an angry voice, startling the pair and making them jump. Sun Wukong stood in the doorway, arms crossed and glaring at them. "How long has this been going on? Is this why you dumped me, Blake?"_

"You _left_ me _, Sun," Blake seethed, coming to her feet and matching Sun's glare with one of her own. "When things got rough, you up and took off for six months, then came back, expecting everything to be perfect again! Relationships take_ work _, Sun, you don't just take off when things get hard!"_

" _Hey, at least I'm approachable! We could have talked, but you're all prickly and brooding all the time!"_

" _You have all the emotional depth of a mud puddle!"_

_The two of them stood glaring at each other until Weiss spoke. "For the record, Sun, not that it's your business anymore, but Blake and I have only been dating for a few weeks, whereas the two of you have been divorced for the better part of a year if I recall correctly. And no, there wasn't anything between us before, certainly not while the two of you were married. Now get out, Sun."_

" _Hey, I live here at the Funhouse here too, you know!"_

" _I said, **GET OUT!** " A glowing white glyph appeared under Sun's feet, sending him hurtling out the window, across the lawn, and out into the lake. Weiss stood, glaring at the hole Sun had made, breathing hard._

_Ilia peered in through the hole, out to the lake, then back at Blake and Weiss. "Was that Sun, what did he do this time, and should I cancel my date?"_

_Blake just glared at both Ilia and Weiss before stomping out._

* * *

"Blake...? Blake are you there?" Blake drifted back in to find Weiss crouched down in front of her, worry written on her face.

"I remembered something..." Blake felt excited and scared at the same time. "I remembered something!"

"Good!" Relief washed over Weiss's face. "That's wonderful! See, you're getting it back! So, what did you remember?"

"Uh..." How to put this? "You and I were kissing on a couch, Sun came in and got angry, and you tossed him through a big old window."

Sun and Weiss both got red-faced and started looking anywhere but at each other or Blake. "Yeah, not the first thing I would have wanted you to remember about me," Sun sighed. "Look, I took our divorce pretty hard. When I walked in on the two of you, I'd just come back from a mission and I was exhausted and pissed off. Seeing you two was the kind of the last straw."

"And I," Weiss stopped, searching for words, "I am sorry, Sun. I overreacted."

"S'okay, I forgave you a long time ago. Said so at your wedding, didn't I? Friends again?" Sun held out his hand to Weiss who took it gingerly and shook it.

"Everything okay over here? I heard shouting." A teenage girl with black hair with red highlights had stepped around the corner, hands on her hips.

"Everything is fine. I just met my ex-husband and punched him out. Please tell me you're not my illegitimate love child or something ridiculous like that."

The girl burst out laughing. "Oh g-gods, Blake, that was priceless! I'm only two years younger than you!"

Blake liked the young girl—no, young _woman_ —immediately. "Okay, time-traveling illegitimate love child then."

Still chortling, the woman started pushing Blake down the path she'd come from. "No, I'm Ruby Rose, the eponymous leader of Team RWBY, and yes, that does sometimes cause confusion. I got into Beacon two years early so I ended leading the team with you, Weiss, and my sister, Yang, you haven't met her yet. And if anybody makes you feel overwhelmed, let me know and I'll knock 'em on their ass."

"She will, too," Weiss added, following along behind.

Ruby stopped the wheelchair and laid her hands on Blake's shoulders. "All joking aside, Blake, are you sure about this? We can put it off if you need to."

"I'm sure. I just _know_ somehow that I got over running away from my problems a long time ago. Let's go meet my in-laws."

"And mine, and the rest of the family."

"Huh? What? Stop!" Too late. They'd come around the corner to face as bizarre a group of people as Blake could ever have imagined. From the left were a busty Amazonian blonde, chatting with a white-haired woman a few years older than her who had one arm held out so a pink-haired little boy could swing from it. Next came an orange-haired woman chatting with an effeminate man with black hair with a single pink streak, complete with a couple of children chasing around their legs. Ilia skipped (Skipped? Ilia? Good grief!) past them to slip between a man with white hair and a woman whose hair was half pink and half brow, putting an arm around both of them. Rounding off things on the far right was the only person standing by themselves, a blonde man wearing armor, a sheathed sword at his waist.

Everyone but the children quieted down as Ruby brought the wheelchair to a halt. "H-Hello everyone," Blake stammered, more nervous than she'd ever been in her entire life. Hell, she'd gone on missions for the White Fang that had scared her less than _this_.

And then Weiss was there, standing at her shoulder, looking down at Blake and nodding, as if to say _You've got this. And I've got your back._ "Well, let's get started, then. You," Blake jabbed a finger at the blonde and the white-haired woman. "You are...?"

"Yang Xiao Long, Ruby's sister. Don't worry about the names, same Dad, different moms. This is Winter, my wife and Weiss's older sister. And this," the blonde pulled the boy with the pink hair off her wife's arm, "is Pluto, our adopted son. I think he's absorbed my attitude by osmosis."

"Hopefully I can curb that with a little sense," Winter demurred, bending down to tickle Pluto.

"Hi, sorry you don't remember us but we've known you since like your first day at Beacon, well, we literally haven't been together every day, there was that time after the Fall of Beacon where we didn't see each other for a long time, but anyway we're best friends, I was even a bridesmaid at both of your weddings, oh, these are our kids, Li and Pyrrha, not _that_ Pyrrha, she's been dead for a long time-"

"Nora, you're going to overwhelm her. Sorry, when she gets going, she's hard to stop. I'm Lie Ren, this is my wife, Nora Valkyrie."

"Nice to meet you, Ren, Nora."

"You called me Ren, my last name, without being told. I'm glad." Ren nodded, and Blake found herself nodding in return. Ren was very... _calming_ if she had to describe him in a word.

Next came Ilia, leading the white-haired man and the woman with the bicolored hair. Up close, Blake could see the claw marks on the left side of his face. _Beowolf,_ the back of her mind whispered. "Whitley Schnee," the man said, holding out his hand. "Weiss and Winter's younger brother. You already know Ilia, this is my other wife, Neo." Neo bowed grandly, making a heart shape with her hands as she stood back up.

Neo's hands started moving in sign language, and Blake opened her mouth to apologize for not understanding, only to stop as she realized she _did_. 'It's a pleasure to meet you again, Blake.'

'Wait, _two_ wives? I didn't think that was legal, unless it is now and I just don't remember. Sorry," she finished, staring down at the floor.

Ilia lifted Blake's chin with one finger, smiling. "Stop apologizing for not remembering the last ten years. It's not your fault, and it's pissing me off that you're blaming yourself. And no, it's not _quite_ legal, legally Whitley and Neo are married, but as Whitley says-"

"'Sufficiently financially motivated lawyers can manage _truly amazing things_ ,'" Whitley and Ilia chorused, Neo nodding along.

"Blake," came a soft voice, making her look over to see yellow eyes looking down at her. "Mom," Blake whispered as her mother Kali reached down for a hug.

"I was terrified when I heard the news. To lose so much of your life, I can't imagine what you're going through. I'm sorry I wasn't here sooner; I was all the way in Menagerie and I caught the first airship I could. I'm not even sure I packed right."

Blake laughed. "I'm sure if you're missing something we can find it for you."

"And if you need something to wear, I happen to know a few boutiques that will be more than happy to serve you _or else,_ " Whitley grinned.

"He's not kidding," Ilia shook her head. "I think the manager of the last place that was rude to me and Neo is waiting tables somewhere."

"Mmm. Give us a moment, will you?" Kali pushed Blake over near one of the benches, then sat down with a grimace.

"Something wrong, Mom?"

"I left my cane over there somewhere. Ah, thanks, Pluto. I just wanted to talk to you alone, see how you're holding up. We're all worried about you."

Blake looked up, through the branches of the trees, through the glass ceiling above that, into the pale blue Atlesian sky, she never thought she'd seen so beautifully pale blue of a sky, it matched Weiss's eyes perfectly. "Honestly? I'm taking things one thing at a time. Everyone's trying to manage me. Sun's blunt honesty about him and me was rather refreshing, to tell the truth."

Kali nodded. "I think that's probably the best way to handle it, just take things at your own speed. And you and Weiss?"

"That's... probably the hardest thing to deal with. She acts like knows me really well, but I don't know her. And I feel so comfortable with her, but at the same time, she's a stranger. And it's the little things she does that are the weirdest. Like when she lays a hand on my arm, and it's so light a touch it's barely there, but more would be too much? Or when she walks up to me and stops, at just the right distance. It's...comforting and unsettling at the same time."

"She loves you, Blake, and some part of you remembers that. Just remember that she's hurting, too. You lost ten years of your life, but she lost the woman she loves that shared those ten years with her. Just talk to each other, that's the best advice I can give you. Now let's get back to everyone." Kali pushed herself to her feet using her cane and moved to take the handles of Blake's wheelchair, but Blake set herself rolling back toward the others with a motion that came easily to her.

"Somehow I don't think this is my first stint in a wheelchair," Blake laughed as she brought herself to a stop next to Weiss.

"Not even in this hospital," Weiss agreed. "At least it's not both of us this time."

"This time?"

"Hey, enough time for war stories later." The armored blonde man extended his hand. "Jaune Arc, leader of team JNKR. That's me, Nora, Ren, and a fourth member who's not here right now. You'll meet him soon enough."

Everyone started telling stories, often making Blake exclaim, "What? No way!" only to have the teller respond with "Absolutely" and someone else to chime in with "Yeah, but." Eventually, Blake needed a break, and she rolled herself around the corner, just out of sight. She sighed. So many stories, so many people caring for her, even knowing she'd been part of the White Fang. It was all overwhelming.

Movement in the corner of her eye made her turn, only to find Weiss standing there, just within sight, close enough again to let Blake know she was there without intruding. "How do you do that?" Blake whispered.

Weiss tilted her head, her brow furrowed. "Do what?"

"Stop at just the right distance for me to know you're there, but not be too close."

"Same way you do with me, or at least you do normally." Weiss sat on a bench in front of Blake, crossing her legs. "We're both very private people, used to being alone, so getting used to being together was a bit of a challenge. I guess we just developed a good sense of when the other one wanted company."

Blake's cat ears flicked in annoyance. "I can't read you like that, but you can read me. I hate it."

"Don't think about it. Just come closer to me until something says 'stop.'"

_You'll know it when you feel it._ Blake hated this kind of crap. Slowly she crept forward in her wheelchair until she got the feeling she was almost 'too close' to Weiss. 'Too close' turned out to be just close enough to reach out and take Weiss's hand, so she did. "H-How's that?" Blake stammered.

"A little too close, but okay. How do you feel, right now?"

"Like I want to curl up next to you and sleep forever."

"Blake, listen to me." Weiss looked at Blake, her face set in stone. "Me, everyone just around the corner, we're here for you. You're family to us, and we want to help you."

"But I don't _know_ any of you!"

"So you get to meet all of your best friends all over again. And if I have to, I'll win your heart again, one moment at a time."

"It's not fair, you know so much about me, but I hardly know you."

"Ah, but right now, you are not _my_ Blake, you are the Blake who is on the cusp of leaving the White Fang. So tomorrow, or whenever they let you out of here, I will lead you on a guided tour of your life since then. You've done incredible things; it's time you were fully acquainted with them. How does that sound?"

"Sounds like a good place to start."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew, this story was difficult to write! Blake is mistrustful of everyone around her, but hungry for the past she's missing. I hope I managed to convey that here.
> 
> Also, losing a parent sucks. I still miss you, Mom.


End file.
